'Al  IAN 


GARDEN  S 


CHARL  ES-A-FLAT 


•NEW- YORK  •  HARPER  6  BROTHERS' 
FRANKLIN -SQVARE  ••  MDCCCXC1V- 


1VH3NS3 


Copyright,  1893,  by  HARPER  &  BROTHERS. 


All  rights  reserved. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

VILLA  LANTE                            .... 

13 

VILLA  BORGHESE                   . 

25 

VILLA  PAMFILI               .         .         •         •         • 

31 

39 

45 

r.OI.ONNA  GARDENS    . 

•       51 

1 1 7490 


VILLA  MEDICI 

VILLA  MATTEI 65 

VILLA  D'ESTE 71 

VILLA  ALDOBRANDINI 83 

VILLA  CONTI 91 

VILLA  FALCONIERI  (FRASCATl) 97 

VILLA  MUTI 103 

VILLA  FALCONIERI       .         . Ill 

VILLA  PORTICI 119 

CAPRAROLA 125 

BOBOLI  GARDENS 131 

VILLA  CASTELLO 137 

GUISTI  GARDENS  .                                            147 

CONCLUSION 153 


SKX*. 


•  1  Ymtfi  itt-Act»,A  _     _. 

""^    J 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


HERMES i 

HEDGE  WALK,  QUIRINAL  GARDENS  ....        Frontispiece  iv 

HEAD-PIECE vii 

PLAN  OF  VILLA  MATTEI ix 

'*• 

PAVILION,  VILLA  LANTE xi 

TAIL-PIECE xiv 

SEAT  IN  A  BOX  WALK                           xv 


PAGE 

OVERGROWN  STATUARY .  2 

A  TYPICAL  VILLA  PAVILION 5 

TERRACE  CASINO  OF  AN  ITALIAN  GARDEN 7 

TAIL-PIECE—OLD  PRINT  OF  AN  ITALIAN  GARDEN         ...  9 

FOUNTAIN  AND  FLOWER  GARDEN,  VILLA  LANTE  ....  12 

CENTRAL  FOUNTAIN,  VILLA  LANTE 15 

IN  THE  GARDEN,  VILLA  LANTE 17 

CASINO  STAIRWAY,  VILLA  LANTE 18 

SWAN  FOUNTAIN,  VILLA  LANTE 21 

PIAZZA  DI  SIENA,  VILLA  BORGHESE 27 

FLOWER  GARDEN,  VILLA  PAMFILI 33 

TAIL-PIECE—BIRD'S-EYE  VIEW,  VILLA  PAMFILI      ....  35 

CYPRESS  HEDGE,  VILLA  ALBANI        .         .         .         .         .         .         .38 

GENERAL  VIEW  OF  GARDENS,  VILLA  ALBANI        ".    *    .         .         .41 

AN  OVERGROWN  CORNER .         .47 

THE  COLONNA  FLOWER  GARDENS 53 

CYPRESSES,  COLONNA  GARDENS      .         .         .         .         .         .         .       54 

THE  VILLA  MEDICI 58 

xii 


THE  BOX  WALK,  VILLA  MEDICI .61 

AN  OLD  ALLEY,  VILLA  MATTEI 67 

PONDS  ON  THE  LOWER  TERRACE,  VILLA  D'ESTE          .         .  70 

VIEW  FROM  TOP  OF  PORCH,  VILLA  D'ESTE 73 

STAIRWAY  AND  FOUNTAIN,  VILLA  D'ESTE 75 

IN  THE  GARDENS,  VILLA  D'ESTE 77 

TAIL-PIECE 79 

A  WOOD  PATH 85 

TAIL-PIECE—OLD  PRINT  OF  A  GARDEN 87 

STEPS  TO  THE  TERRACE,  VILLA  CONTI 93 

IN  THE  GARDENS,  VILLA   FALCONIERI 96 

ASCENT  TO  THE  RESERVOIR,  VILLA  FALCONIERI  ....  99 

GATEWAY,  VILLA  MUTI i°2 

A  FRASCATI  RESERVOIR      ...                  105 

OLD  GATE,  VILLA  MUTI 107 

THE   ENTRANCE,  VILLA    FALCONIERI         ...                  .         .  113 

VILLA  AND  GARDEN,  VILLA   FALCONIERI H4 

THE  BOSQUET,  VILLA  PORTICl  .         ...                  .         .         .  118 

xiii 


GARDEN  GATE,  VILLA  PORTICI 
GARDEN  WALL,  VILLA  CAPRAROLA 

IN  THE  BOBOLI  GARDENS    .         ... 

GATEWAY,  BOBOLI  GARDENS     . 

IN  THE  FLOWER-GARDEN,  VILLA  CASTELLO 

CENTRAL  FOUNTAIN,  VILLA  CASTELLO    . 

TERRACE  WALL,  VILLA  CASTELLO   . 

THE  GUISTI  GARDEN   .         .  ,. 

TAIL-PIECE    . 


PAGE 
.         121 

.  127 

.  130 

•  133 

•  139 
.  141 

143 

•  149 

•  154 


,.,,-(  A 
v  OF  T-HE 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 


INTRODUC  TORY 


'HE  first  steps  of  one  interested  in  the  formal 
style  of  landscape  architecture  should  be 
directed  to  Italy,  where  at  the  time  of  the 
Renaissance  the  great  gardens  which  have  ever  since 
served  as  models  of  this  method  of  design  came  into 
existence,  the  form  they  took  being  the  natural  out- 
growth of  the  architecture  and  art  of  the  period. 
While  the  other  arts  of  the  Italian  Renaissance  have 
been  exhaustively  treated  in  various  forms  and  lan- 
guages, there  is  no  existing  work  of  any  great  latitude 
treating  the  subject  of  gardens,  the  only  one  of  impor- 
tance being  that  of  Percier  and  Fontaine.  This  is 
an  elaborate  book  by  two  Frenchmen  who  studied  the 
subject,  and  published,  in  the  early  part  of  this  cen- 
tury, a  series  of  plates  representing  the  ground-plans 
and  several  views  of  each  of  the  important  Italian 

3 


villas.  Their  work  was  one  largely  of  research  and 
restoration,  the  result  of  studying  the  history  of  the 
gardens  and  the  existing  designs  of  their  various  ar- 
chitects. The  outcome  of  such  treatment  is  that  their 
work  fails  to  give  a  fair  idea  of  the  existing  state  of 
the  villas.  The  views  from  different  points  of  the  gar- 
dens are  so  freely  treated  as  to  leave  one  familiar  with 
them  in  much  doubt  as  to  their  ever  having  looked 
as  they  are  represented,  and  they  are  misleading,  to 
say  the  least,  to  one  who  has  never  seen  the  gardens. 
The  art  of  photography  has  been  perfected  since  their 
treatment  of  the  subject,  and  the  object  of  the  present 
writer  has  been  by  its  means  to  illustrate,  as  far  as 
possible,  the  existing  state  of  the  more  important  gar- 
dens in  Italy,  leaving  out  the  matter  of  research  alto- 
gether, since  a  more  profitable  study  of  the  subject 
can  be  made  as  the  result  of  these  reproductions  of 
nature,  and  it  is  quite  possible  (by  making  a  careful 
study  of  all  the  gardens  as  a  whole)  to  come  to  cer- 
tain conclusions  as  to  the  fundamental  principles  which 
guided  the  original  designers. 

The  gardens  existing  to-day  have  all  passed  through 
a  variety  of  changes.  Some  of  them  have  gone  almost 
to  ruin  through  neglect  or  difference  of  taste  in  their 
owners,  and,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  those  which 

4 


A   TYPICAL   VILLA   PAVILION 


are  at  present  the  most  carefully  kept  up  have  suffered 
the  most  severely  from  the  changing  fashion  of  the 
time.  However,  in  almost  all  of  them  there  is  some- 
thing of  their  best  time  which,  either  by  reason  of  the 
great  difficulty  of  alteration  or  from  some  other  cause, 
has  been  allowed  to  remain.  It  has  been  attempted 
in  the  illustrations  here  given  to  reproduce  these  traits 
and  such  others  as  seem  good  in  themselves. 

It  should  be  said  here  that  the  word  "  villa  "  is  used 
in  the  Italian  sense,  implying  all  the  formal  parts  of 
the  grounds  arranged  in  direct  relation  to  the  house, 
the  house  itself  being  as  much  a  part  of  it  as  the  gar- 
den or  the  grove. 

The  evident  harmony  of  arrangement  between  the 
house  and  surrounding  landscape  is  what  first  strikes 
one  in  Italian  landscape  architecture — the  design  as  a 
whole,  including  gardens,  terraces,  groves,  and  their 
necessary  surroundings  and  embellishments,  it  being 
clear  that  no  one  of  these  component  parts  was  ever 
considered  independently,  the  architect  of  the  house 
being  also  the  architect  of  the  garden  and  the  rest  of 
the  villa.  The  problem  being  to  take  a  piece  of  land 
and  make  it  habitable,  the  architect  proceeded  with 
the  idea  that  not  only  was  the  house  to  be  lived  in, 

but  that  one  still  wished  to  be  at  home  while  out-of- 

6 


doors ;  so  the  garden  was  designed  as  another  apart- 
ment, the  terraces  and  groves  still  others,  where  one 
might  walk  about  and  find  a  place  suitable  to  the  hour 
of  the  day  and  feeling  of  the  moment,  and  still  be 
in  that  sacred  portion  of  the  globe  dedicated  to  one's 
self. 


' LANTE: 


.v.  D 


[HE  most  complete  example  of  the  Italian 
villa — that  is,  the  one  best  preserving  its 
original  form — is  the  Villa  Lante,  at  Bag- 
nia,  not  far  from  Viterbo.  This,  like  all  the  great  vil- 
las, was  the  work  of  several  designers  carried  through 
the  lives  of  several  owners,  but  the  most  important 
part  was  from  the  designs  of  Vignola,  and  sufficient- 
ly completed  in  his  lifetime  to  give  his  stamp  to 
the  whole.  While  a  considerable  part  of  the  park  has 
been  allowed  to  go  to  decay,  the  house  and  gardens 
and  all  that  part  of  the  design  known  as  the  "  villa  " 
have  been  kept  up,  and  probably  to-day  present  a  bet- 
ter idea  of  the  Renaissance  garden  than  does  any 
other  in  Italy. 

The  flower-garden  of  the  Villa  Lante  is  southwest 
from  the  house,  or  rather  houses,  there  being  two,  one 
for  domestic  purposes  and  the  other  for  entertain- 
ments. These  are  at  eithef  end  of  the  terrace  which 
overlooks  the  garden.  The  principal  street  of  the 

13 


town  leads  directly  up  to  the  gate,  upon  entering 
which  one  finds  one's  self  in  the  midst  of  a  profusion 
of  flowers,  and  facing  a  fountain  which  makes  the 
central  feature  of  the  garden.  The  fountain  consists 
of  a  group  of  bronze  figures  on  a  circular  base  sur- 
rounded by  four  large  basins,  which  receive  the  falling 
water.  Looking  beyond  the  fountain,  the  eye  is  led, 
by  means  of  a  series  of  terraces  and  fountains  between 
the  two  houses,  to  the  highest  part  of  the  land;  this  is 
thickly  covered  with  trees,  which  form  a  background 
for  the  architectural  features.  The  garden  proper  cov- 
ers about  an  acre  of  ground,  but  so  large  a  space 
is  taken  up  by  the  fountain  and  its  surrounding  em- 
bellishments that  the  actual  space  for  planting  is  much 
less  than  one  would  imagine.  A  magnificent  box^ 
hedge,  very  dense  and  high,  protects  the  garden  on 
the  north  and  west,  the  south  being  open  and  over- 
looking the  extensive  campagna.  Making  a  part  of 
the  eastern  wall  is  the  orangery  —  a  building  which 
forms  a  very  necessary  part  of  every  garden  in  Italy — 
wherein  the  orange-trees  and  the  tender  plants  grown 
in  pots  are  stored  in  winter.  The  important  paths  of 
the  "  parterre "  are  marked  by  small  box  hedges,  ac- 
cented at  the  corners  by  large  orange-trees  in  pots. 
The  main  features  of  the  garden  are  so  admirably 

14 


^ 


CENTRAL   FOUNTAIN,  VILLA   LANTE 


UHlV.r- 

Cr 


arranged  that  there  is  no  point  of  view  from  which  the 
effect  is  not  good.  The  problem  of  treating  so  large 
a  space  was  rendered  difficult  from  the  fact  that  the 
chief  point  of  view  is  from  the  house  terrace,  necessi- 
tating a  large  scale  in  the  architectural  details  and  in 
the  cut  forms  in  green.  The  large  lines  of  ponds  sur- 
rounding the  fountain  form  the  basis  of  the  scale,  the 
large  stone  vases  at  the  corners  being  balanced  by 
forms  of  corresponding  size  on  the  surrounding  paths. 
These  large  forms  are  filled  in  on  the  architectural 
part  with  balustrades  and  small  carving,  and  among 
the  growing  things  the  flowers  and  small  plants.  Thus 
from  above  the  four  sheets  of  water  reflecting  the  sky 
form  the  necessary  contrast  to  the  various  characters 
of  the  planting  and  the  formal  details. 

Two  stone  staircases  lead  to  the  terrace  which  con- 
nects the  houses.  Another  fountain  marks  the  centre 
of  this  terrace,  and  the  whole  is  shaded  by  large  syc- 
j.more-trees ;  and  here,  between  the  garden  and  the 
wood,  the  family  live.  If  they  wish  sunshine,  they 
turn  one  way ;  and  if  cool  and  shade  and  the  sound  of 
running  water,  the  other;  though,  for  that  matter- 
there  is  no  place  in  the  villa  where  the  trickling  of  a 
fountain  may  not  be  heard.  Another  series  of  stair- 
cases, combined  with  fountains,  leads  up  from  this 

1*6 


CASINO   STAIRWAY,  VILLA   LANTE 


terrace  to  a  walk  on  either  side  of  the  water-course, 
conducting  the  water  from  the  upper  fountains  to 
those  we  have  just  passed.  At  the  top  is  the  "bos- 
quet "  or  grove,  and  in  its  centre,  flanked  by  two  most 
beautiful  pavilions,  is  the  reservoir.  This  is,  in  its 
turn,  enclosed  in  a  kind  of  court  of  Doric  columns, 
supported  o.n  pedestals  and  connected  by  .balustrades. 

The  sylvan  court  thus  composed  makes  the  bos- 
quet of  the  Villa  Lante  one  of  unusual  beauty.  The 
trees  behind  the  columns  form  a  dense  glade.  The 
branches  of  the  trees  are  allowed  to  grow  in  and  out, 
making  the  effect  that  of  being  surrounded  by  a 
forest.  The  two  pavilions  which  mark  the  corners  of 
this  enclosure  deserve  special  attention ;  there  is  noth- 
ing of  the  kind  in  any  other  villa,  and  they  form  the 
key-note  of  an  exceedingly  well-conceived  place. 

It  will  be  seen  that  in  the  Villa  Lante  the  main 
features  of  the  Italian  villa  are  found  in  much  of  their 
original  perfection  —  namely  the  house,  the  flower- 
garden,  the  terrace,  the  grove,  the  fountains,  and  the 
water  system ;  and  a  general  study  of  other  villas  will 
show  that  their  different  dispositions  are  the  result  of 
harmoniously  combining  these  different  parts  with  the 
natural  formation  of  the  land.  If  any  prominence  is 
given  to  one  or  the  other  of  these  features,  it  is  sug- 

19 


gested  by  some  natural  cause.  The  Villa  Lante  is 
built  on  gently  rising  ground,  and  there  is  less  terrac- 
ing here  than  in  the  sites  usually  selected  for  Italian 
villas.  In  no  other,  however,  are  there  so  many  im- 
portant characteristics  still  to  be  found.  Moreover, 
the  arrangement  is  so  compact,  and  the  relation  of 
one  part  to  another  is  so  obvious,  that  they  seem  to 
justify  its  selection  as  the  starting-point  in  the  study 
of  Italian  gardening;  not  because  it  is  the  most  im- 
portant or  the  most  beautiful,  but  because  it  serves 
best  as  a  key  by  the  aid  of  which  one  can  go  to  the 
less  perfect  villas  and  better  understand  their  prob- 
able arrangement. 


VI    jVBORGHKSE 


|N  Rome  the  most  important  villa,  on  ac- 
count of  its  size,  is  the  Borghese ;  but 
here  very  little  now  remains  beyond  the 
main  forms  of  the  original  plan.  Especially  that  in- 
time  portion  of  the  gardens  immediately  surrounding 
the  house  has  been  allowed  to  go  to  decay.  There 
is  no  large  flower-garden  making  a  feature  in  itself, 
though  at  the  time  the  villa  was  kept  up  a  great 
many  flowers  were  grown  throughout  the  place,  and 
there  were  several  small  flower-gardens  of  minor  im- 
portance. There  were  two  of  these  of  especial  in- 
terest, one  at  either  end  of  the  casino ;  but  nothing 
now  remains  of  them  but  the  high  walls  by  which 
they  were  enclosed,  and  some  traces  of  the  fountains. 
Beyond  the  fine  avenue  and  walks,  the  one  feature 
of  interest  in  the  Borghese  at  present  is  the  Piazza 
di  Siena — the  old  race-course — and  how  much  of 
this  may  be  the  result  of  change  it  is  difficult  to 
know,  it  is,  however,  so  delightful  now  that  one 
does  not  care  to  be  too  curious  about  its  past.  Its 

25 


shape  is  oblong,  the  sides  gently  terraced  by  stone 
steps  (now  greatly  overgrown  with  grass),  and  at  the 
end  are  a  fountain  and  a  magnificent  walk  of  old  ilex- 
trees.  On  the  two  long  sides,  behind  the  steps,  are 
rows  of  very  fine  stone-pines.  In  early  summer  this 
is  a  favorite  resort  of  the  people,  who  come  to  sit  on 
these  grassy  steps  and  to  walk  about  on  the  lawn. 
Although  there  are  no  races,  I  have  seen  quite  enough 
of  a  gathering  here  to  give  an  idea  of  its  ancient  look 
on  'a  gala-day.  No  more  charming  theatre  for  an  out- 
door entertainment,  either  equestrian  or  athletic,  could 
possibly  be  imagined. 

There  are  many  architectural  details  of  interest  in 
the  Villa  Borghese,  some  fine  gates  and  fountains  and 
stone  benches.  These  are  most  all  seemingly  de- 
tached now,  but  once  formed  a  part  of  the  elaborate 
plan  of  the  villa.  One  of  the  most  interesting  features 
is  the  wall  enclosing  the  open  space  in  front  of  the 
casino.  This  is  most  skilfully  designed  for  the  gentle 
slope  of  the  land,  stone  benches  alternating  with  balus- 
trades. It  is  very  suggestive  as  an  admirable  enclosure 
for  a  terraced  garden.  There  is  much  that  is  sug- 
gestive in  the  detached  garden  architecture  of  the 
Italian  villas,  their  surroundings  are  so  often  in  bad 
taste  and  their  original  meaning  quite  lost  sight  of. 

26 


PIAZZA   DI   SIENA,  VILLA    BORGHESE 


V1LLA--PAMFIL1 


;F  the  Villa  Pamfili  the  flower-garden  is  all 
that  has  kept  its  original  form,  and  here 
the  details  of  the  arrangement  of  the  "  par- 
terre "  have  been  quite  changed,  and  are  now  very 
much  too  hard  and  cut  up.  The  disposition  of  the 
house  in  relation  to  the  garden  is  somewhat  similar 
to  that  at  Lante,  the  house  making  a  part  of  the 
terrace  which  overlooks  it,  the  difference  being  that 
there  is  here  but  one  house  facing  the  centre  of  the 
garden,  instead  of  one  at  either  end.  The  garden  oc- 
cupies an  enormous  space  at  the  south  of  the  house, 
its  west  end  being  cut  out  of  the  side  of  a  hill  and 
walled  in,  and  its  east  end  forming  a  terrace.  To  see 
this  garden  to  advantage  one  should  be  either  in  it 
or  in  the  house,  as  from  a  distance  the  boxlike  form 
of  the  building  offends  one's  sense  of  proportion.  The 
original  scheme  of  the  architect  was  never  carried 
out,  if  we  are  to  believe  an  old  print,  which  adds  two 
long  wings  to  the  house,  and  gives,  in  connection  with 

31 


it,  an  admirable  arrangement  of  trees,  which  would 
have  vastly  improved  the  general  effect.  What  re- 
main of  the  old  garden  are  its  fine  proportions,  the 
walls  and  gates  at  the  west,  and  the  beautiful  stair- 
cases and  balustrades  at  the  south  and  east.  The 
central  fountain  has  been  removed,  and  the  only  water 
there  now  is  in  the  basin  at  the  enclosed  end.  The 
arrangement  of  the  flower-beds  is  made  up  of  scroll- 
work in  box  or  gravel,  but  there  are  no  fine  large 
forms,  such  as  should  surround  this  smaller  work. 
The  result  is  that  the  paths  are  everywhere  too  ob- 
vious, and  the  hardness  of  the  design  offends  one  at 
every  turn. 

This  lack  of  harmony  is  made  particularly  manifest 
by  a  very  beautiful  circular  form  given  to  the  western 
terrace.  There  is  no  approach  to  this  from  below, 
and  its  position  in  a  mass  of  irregularly  placed  trees 
with  grass  growing  about  its  base  is  particularly  un- 
fortunate, and  gives  it  a  very  detached  look.  There  is 
a  large  plantation  of  stone-pines  in  the  more  remote 
parts  of  the  villa.  These  were  placed  there  by  the 
great  French  landscape  architect,  Le  Notre.  They 
give  a  certain  dignity  to  the  drives  and  from  a  dis- 
tance suggest  a  more  interesting  place  than  one  finds 
upon  closer  examination. 

32 


There  is  a  fine  avenue  of  ilexes  at  the  west  end  of 
.  the  garden ;   and   there   was  once,  at  the  south,  an 
elaborate  system  of  hedges,  plantations,  and  architec- 
ture leading  the  eye  off  into  the  distance.     This  has 
now  all  been  done  over  in  the  English  manner,  with 
irregular  clumps  of  trees,  and  wide  stretches  of  lawn, 
quite  out  of  harmony  with  the  formal  plan  of  the  villa. 
^  The  south  wall  is  typical  of  what  a  garden  wall  should 
( be — covered  as  it  is  with  vines  of  every  sort.     These 
(  make  masses  of  varied  greens,  which,  with  the  bloom 
N  of  the  flowers,  is  very  telling  against  the  white  wall. 


VILLA  DEL.ECC 


VILLA  ALBAN1 


|HE  Villa  Albani  was  made  at  the  end  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  and  consequently 
the  architecture  is  very  florid  in  charac- 
ter. Though  the  general  plan  is  a  good  one,  the 
prominence  given  to  the  architecture  makes  the 
effect  of  the  whole  hard,  and  particularly  so  on  ac- 
count of  the  paucity  of  the  planting.  The  flower- 
garden  has  no  flowers  in  it!  or  such,  at  least,  is  its 
effect.  The  garden  is  so  placed — being  sunk  between 
the  house  and  a  pavilion  which  encloses  its  end — that 
it  is  impossible  not  to  look  down  upon  it.  This  is  the 
usual  placing  of  Italian  flower-gardens ;  but  to  look 
well  under  these  conditions  very  full  planting  is  abso- 
lutely necessary.  Here  one  looks  down  and  sees 
nothing  but  scroll-work  in  box,  and  great  varieties  of 
colors  in  gravel  and  sand  occupying  spaces  that  should 
be  filled  with  flowers,  all  the  efforts  of  the  gardener 
going  to  make  a  permanent  effect  and  to  preserve  his 
design  at  any  cost,  the  result  being  the  reverse  of  that 

39 


looked  for  in  a  flower-garden,  the  design,  indeed, 
being  made  altogether  unpleasant  by  its  hardness. 
The  other  features  of  the  Villa  Albani  have  not  suf- 
fered as  the  garden  has,  and  the  ilex  walk  leading  from 
the  south  wing  of  the  house  is  unusually  fine,  being 
slightly  elevated  above  the  house,  and  approached  by 
a  handsome  flight  of  steps.  In  this  walk  there  are 
some  very  interesting  statuary  and  old  Roman  tables. 
The  cypress  hedges  at  the  south  of  the  garden  are  as 
fine  as  anything  in  Italy.  They  are  admirably  arranged 
with  columns  at  intervals ;  these,  with  statuary,  make 
a  fine  contrast  by  means  of  their  deep  green  back- 
ground. The  entrance  to  the  villa  is  somewhat  weak, 
but  it  leads  to  an  interesting  circle,  of  stone-pines  sur- 
rounding a  high  column.  The  weakness  lies  in  the 
fact  that  one's  eye  is  not  led  beyond  this,  and  that  there 
is  no  evident  avenue  of  approach  to  the  house. 

The  interest  in  the  plan  of  the  Villa  Albani  lies  in 
the  fact  that  the  ground  it  covers  is  very  nearly  flat, 
the  garden  alone  being  lower  than  the  rest  of  the  villa. 
The  architect  had  none  of  the  advantages  of  a  site 
naturally  interesting  in  itself,  and  no  natural  formation 
in  the  landscape  to  suggest  treatment,  so  that  the  de- 
sign is  specially  worthy  of  study  as  a  pure  creation. 

40 


o~ 
UNIVERSITY 

OF 


QUIRINAL  GARDENS 


[HE  royal  gardens  are  an  interesting  study 
on  account  of  the  great  height  of  the 
hedge  growth.  Judging  from  an  old  print 
of  the  plan  of  this  garden,  it  was  originally  laid 
out  in  a  very  open  manner  as  an  enormous  "par- 
terre." There  is  but  one  level  throughout  the  planta- 
tion, and  this  was  cut  up  into  large  squares  surround- 
ed by  low  hedges  enclosing  flowers.  The  fountains 
and  statuary  were  very  frequent,  and  at  the  sides  the 
walks  were  shaded  by  ilex-trees.  The  great  height  of 
the  hedges  which  once  marked  the  borders  of  the  beds 
have  now  turned  these  enclosures  into  most  charming 
apartments,  the  passages  from  one  to  another  being 
arches  cut  through  the  dense  growth.  In  some  places 
the  hedges  of  laurel,  box,  and  ilex  reach  a  height  of 
thirty  feet,  and  as  a  growth  in  itself  is  remarkable? 
but  when  one  finds  it  formed  into  courts  connected  by 
long  alleys,  and  with  the  doorways  and  arches  appar- 
ently carved  in  the  dense  green,  the  effect  is  quite 

45 


wonderful.  There  is  nothing  at  all  like  it  in  any  of 
the  other  gardens;  it  is  quite  unique.  To  one  who 
doubts  the  advantage  of  straight  lines  in  gardening, 
the  extreme  beauty  of  the  perspective  in  the  Quirinal 
would  teach  much.  The  principal  hedge  walk  nearest 
the  palace  shows  this  at  its  best.  At  the  right  of  the 
path  is  the  great  ridge  leading  in  a  perfectly  straight 
line  to  the  limit  of  the  garden ;  on  the  left  are  formal 
beds  filled  with  flowers,  allowed  to  grow  much  as  they 
will,  and  the  formality  of  the  mass  cut  up  by  trees  and 
flowering  shrubs.  Pots  of  azalias  and  orange -trees 
are  placed  here  and  there  to  make  the  opening  of  the 
smaller  paths,  near  to  sides  of  the  walk,  form  a  con- 
trast one  to  another,  and  make  of  the  whole  a  most 
complete  and  satisfying  garden  effect.  There  are 
other  parts  of  the  garden  that  have  not  been  so  skil- 
fully treated,  and  where  the  admirable  opportunities, 
the  result  of  time  and  overgrowth,  have  been  neglected. 
An  attempt  to  produce  an  English  lawn  is  misplaced 
here,  and  the  disposition  of  the  statuary  and  the  sur- 
roundings of  the  fountains  are  unfortunate.  These 
things  are  lost  sight  of,  however,  in  the  beauty  of  the 
greater  part  of  the  garden,  the  charm  of  the  old  walks, 
and  the  delightful  seclusion  of  the  green  walled  courts. 

46 


COLONNA  GARDENS 


)OR  a  flower-garden,  pure  and  simple,  there 
is  none  more  charming  in  Italy  than  the 
Colonna.  In  the  very  heart  of  Rome,  it 
is  so  concealed  that  one  might  pass  it  a  hundred 
times  without  suspecting  its  existence.  The  palace 
is  at  the  foot  of  a  hill,  and  is  separated  from  the 
garden  by  a  sunken  street  and  terraces.  The  street 
is  crossed  by  several  bridges,  and  in  looking  from 
the  palace  to  the  terraces  is  entirely  invisible. 

The  hill  is  very  abrupt,  and  one  is  led  through  ilex 
walks  and  up  stairways,  along  terraces,  to  the  flower 
garden  at  its  very  top.  The  garden,  however,  is  not 
in  so  unsheltered  a  position  as  this  might  seem  to  in- 
dicate, being  protected  at  the  south  by  a  high  hedge. 
An  iron  gateway  at  an  opening  in  this  hedge  forms  the 
entrance  to  the  garden,  and  on  passing  through  this, 
one  is  immediately  in  the  midst  of  a  most  beautiful 
mass  of  bloom,  where  all  growing  things  seem  at  their 
best.  The  arrangement  of  the  garden  is  very  simple, 

51 


the  paths  all  radiating,  like  the  spokes  of  a  wheel,  from 
a  central  basin.  The  beds  are  slightly  elevated  above 
the  walks,  and  their  borders  of  box  form  the  borders 
of  the  paths ;  the  area  covered  is  about  half  an  acre, 
but  so  admirable  is  the  plan  and  so  compact  the 
planting  that  it  seems  much  larger,  one  sees  no  paths 
except  that  upon  which  he  is  standing,  seeming  always 
to  be  surrounded  by  a  great  profusion  of  flowers,  with 
just  enough  of  formality  to  give  them  their  value- 
There  is  no  architectural  feature  in  this  garden  be- 
yond the  basin  in  its  centre,  which  is  sufficiently  low 
to  receive  the  reflection  of  the  growth  about  it.  The 
garden  owes  its  charm — which  is  very  great — to  its 
very  simple  design  and  the  admirable  planting.  It  is 
enclosed  on  the  east  and  west  by  high  walls  covered 
with  vines ;  at  their  basis  are  several  tiers  of  steps 
with  flower-pots. 

The  Colonna,  for  its  size,  is  by  no  means  important 
in  comparison  with  others  of  the  well-known  gardens, 
but  it  is  most  instructive  in  its  simplicity  and  charm 
when  contrasted  with  such  gardens  as  Albani  and 
Pamfili,  where  everything  has  been  lost  sight  of  but 
the  preservation  of  an  elaborate  "  parterre."  The 
flower-garden  of  this  villa  is  so  distinctively  itself  an 
interesting  feature  that  it  is  unnecessary  to  dwell  much 

52 


CYPRESSES,   COLONNA   GARDENS 


upon  the  rest ;  though  the  lower  terrace,  on  a  level 
with  the  first  floor  of  the  palace,  is  also  something 
of  a  garden,  and  interesting  in  itself.  It  is  planted 
in  long  tiers,  with  flowering  shrubs  bordered  by  tree- 
roses,  and  terminating  at  the  west  in  a  grotto  with 
columns  and  tall  cypresses,  and  at  the  east  in  old 
statuary  half  covered  with  vines  and  undergrowth. 

The  side- hill  between  this  and  the  upper  garden 
was  originally  occupied  by  old  Roman  baths,  and  the 
architect  has,  wherever  possible,  allowed  the  mason- 
work  to  remain,  sometimes  forming  the  old  arches 
into  stairways  or  terraces,  and  leaving  the  old  brick 
walls  to  be  covered  with  vines. 


[•HE 

UN1V-I.T31TY 

OF 


VILLA  MEDICI 


|HE  Villa  Medici,  now  the  property  of  the 
French  Government,  has  the  most  delight- 
ful situation  in  Rome — east  of  the  gardens 
of  Pincio  and  slightly  elevated  above  them.  The 
entrance  to  the  garden  is  by  a  roadway  at  the  left  of 
the  villa,  and  leads  immediately  into  a  beautiful  grove 
with  straight  paths  and  fountains.  Considering  its 
position,  this  seems  really  a  forest,  and  one  has  some- 
thing of  a  stroll  before  reaching  the  old  flower-garden 
behind  the  villa.  Here  most  of  the  traces  of  the 
flowers  and  their  original  arrangement  have  disap- 
peared, and  little  is  done  to  keep  the  place  up  in  its 
old  glory;  even  the  main  features  of  the  "parterre" 
have  been  changed  with  a  view  to  economy,  and  only 
the  general  effects  produced  by  the  situation  and  its 
relations  to  the  other  parts  of  the  villa  are  left. 

There  is,  however,  a  great  charm  in  the  sharp-cut 
box  hedges  which  surround  the  flower-beds,  in  contrast 
with  the  varied  outlines  of  the  grove  through  which 

59 


we  have  just  passed.  These  hedges  are  so  high  that 
one  misses  the  flowers  as  little  as  possible,  although 
of  course  they  lead  one  to  pass  through  the  garden, 
rather  than  to  treat  it  as  a  place  in  which  to  loiter. 

Above  the  flower  garden,  to  the  east,  is  an  archi- 
tectural terrace  leading  to  an  ilex  bosquet.  This  is 
really  the  charming  feature  of  the  Villa  Medici  to-day, 
and  there  is  nothing  more  delightful  in  Rome.  The 
trees  are  very  old,  and  although  the  place  is  not  large, 
there  is  such  a  complete  tangled  growth  that  it  is  im- 
possible to  believe  that  one  is  within  a  stone's-throw 
of  a  very  busy  part  of  the  city.  At  the  end  of  the 
central  paths  is  an  elevated  temple,  reached  by  a  flight 
of  steps,  and  the  trees  surrounding  it  are  so  cut  as  to 
give  a  complete  view  of  the  city.  There  are  some  de- 
lightful old  seats  in  the  grove,  which  one  abandons 
with  regret  when  the  custodian  arrives  to  close  the 
gates  and  turn  the  visitor  away. 


VILLA  MATTEI 


LTHOUGH  this  was  once  one  of  the  most 
magnificent  gardens  of  Rome,  there  is 
very  little  there  at  present  to  suggest  this. 
The  interest  that  one  finds  is  rather  in  the  study  of 
the  ancient  place  than  in  the  beauty  of  the  existing 
landscape  architecture. 

The  villa  has  been  through  a  period  of  great  ruin, 
and  the  style  of  gardening  in  vogue  at  the  time  of 
its  partial  restoration  was  quite  the  opposite  of  that 
upon  which  it  was  originally  designed.  The  result 
has  been  to  give  its  general  appearance  one  without 
character  as  a  complete  work  of  art,  the  contrast  be- 
tween the  formal  and  the  so-called  neutral  methods 
filling  one  with  a  sense  of  lost  opportunity.  The 
main  features  of  the  old  work  were  of  such  magnitude 
as  to  be  ever  before  the  eye,  showing  what  might  have 
been  or  what  has  been.  The  more  recent  work  has 
been  chiefly  an  attempt  to  conceal  this,  or  to  cover 
the  evidences  of  its  ruin.  Although  the  effect  of 

65 


the  villa  is  thus  as  a  whole  so  unsatisfactory,  there 
are  parts,  taken  by  themselves,  full  of  charm,  and 
among  these  are  a  series  of  alleys  leading  from  a  small 
central  fountain.  High  hedges  border  the  paths,  and 
behind  them  are  tall  stone-pines,  giving  shade  and 
marking  the  perspective  of  each  of  these  walks  as  the 
eye  follows  them  to  the  end.  The  flower-garden, 
though  not  intended  as  a  show  feature,  is  very  inter- 
esting in  its  simplicity.  It  is  intended  simply  as  a 
place  to  grow  flowers  for  cutting,  and  an  absence  of 
any  design  not  necessary  for  the  convenience  of  the 
gardener  has  given  the  place  a  quaint  character  which 
one  rarely  finds  as  a  result  of  design.  In  the  centre 
is  a  basin  from  which  the  flowers  are  watered,  and  the 
beds  are.  in  long  lines,  with  a  wide  path  only  in  the 
middle  of  the  garden,  the  lateral  ones  being  lost  by 
the  growth  of  the  plants.  There  are  many  bits  of 
statuary  and  architectural  details  of  the  Roman  time, 
once  used  to  decorate  the  gardens  of  the  Villa 
Mattei.  These  are  now  placed  often  where  they  do 
not  add  to  the  general  effect,  but  at  least  where 
they  may  be  studied  by  the  archaeological  student. 


AN    OLD   ALLEY,  VILLA   MATTEI 


"£\  U  R  A  Rp 

O^  TME 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 
CAi  /irn( 


LI  R 

v/°l" 
...    ;Vs/n- 


JN  turning  from  the  gardens  of  Rome  and 
its  immediate  environs,  the  Villa  d'Este, 
at  Tivoli,  is  the  most  important,  and,  in 
fact,  if  one  could  study  but  a  single  villa  in  Italy,  this 
should  be  the  chosen  one. 

In  its  day  it  was  undoubtedly  the  finest  villa  in 
Italy,  and  although  it  is  now  in  a  state  of  great  dilapi- 
dation and  decay,  its  natural  advantages  and  the  great 
beauty  of  its  situation  are  such,  and  the  construction 
of  its  main  features  so  admirable,  that  it  still  remains 
a  noble  example  of  landscape  architecture  of  the  Re- 
naissance. Not  nearly  so  large  as  the  Borghese  or 
the  Pamfili  Villa,  every  inch  of  its  ground  has  been 
utilized  to  the  utmost,  and  the  whole  arrangement  is 
compact  and  complete. 

The  site  of  the  palace  is  at  the  top  of  an  abrupt 
hill-side,  overlooking  the  Campagna,  and  the  archi- 
tect's problem  lay  in  the  treatment  of  the  extremely 
abrupt  slope,  there  being  no  natural  flat  ^pace  except 

71 


at  the  bottom  of  the  enclosure,  which   is  still  high 
above  the  surrounding  country. 

The  palace  itself  is  built  on  terraces,  the  court  and 
entrance  being  three  stories  higher  than  the  first  open 
terrace  in  front  of  the  house.  Beyond  these  a  most 
elaborate  system  of  terraces,  connected  by  stairways 
and  fountains,  brings  one  down  to  the  large  terrace 
below.  Beyond  the  magnificent  site,  the  greatest  nat- 
ural advantage  of  the  place  is  a  practically  unlimited 
supply  of  water.  This  the  architect  has  used  in  every 
conceivable  way,  and  in  addition  to  the  great  variety 
of  fountains  and  grottos  there  is  hardly  an  architect- 
ural feature  in  the  villa  in  which  a  play  of  water  is  not 
made  to  form  a  part.  It  might  be  added  that  they  are 
now  to  be  found  in  almost  every  imaginable  state  of 
decay.  Most  of  the  fountains  and  other  architectural- 
features  have  long  since  been  stripped  of  their  finest 
pieces  of  statuary,  and  in  being  thus  stripped  many  of 
them  have  lost  their  raison  d'etre. 

The  excavations  of  Hadrian's  villa  are  the  mine 
from  which  they  were  originally  taken,  and  they  have 
now,  most  of  them,  found  their  places  in  museums, 
being  too  valuable  to  be  left  in  a  spot  so  long  unin- 
habited. 

The  palace  is  an  enormous  structure  of  perfect  sim- 

72 


plicity  of  design,  its  long  lines  contrasting  with  the 
elaborate  terraces  which  support  it.  The  only  deco- 
ration of  its  exterior  is  the  doorway  and  staircases  lead- 
ing to  it.  This  is  connected  with  the  rest  of  the  garden 
by  the  chief  system  of  fountains  and  staircases,  which 
lead  the  eye  from  the  lower  terrace  to  the  house.  To 
one  looking  up  from  below,  the  intricate  design  of  this 
doorway  appears  like  most  delicate  lace-work  in  com- 
parison with  the  extreme  simplicity  of  the  otherwise 
unbroken  fa9ade  of  the  house,  and  in  contrast  with 
the  deep  green  of  the  terrace  plantation.  Looking 
down  from  the  upper  terrace,  one  sees  through  a  deep 
cut  in  the  foliage,  over  a  series  of  fountains  and  stair- 
ways, the  large  circular  fountain  on  the  lower  terrace, 
surrounded  by  gigantic  cypresses,  and  beyond  this  the 
immense  expanse  of  the  Campagna. 

There  are  many  cypresses  throughout  the  planting 
which  have  now  grown  to  an  enormous  size.  These, 
with  their  hard-cut  edges  and  sculpturesque  forms  and 
great  depth  of  color,  make  a  wonderful  foreground  for 
the  infinitely  increasing  delicacy  of  the  Campagna  as 
it  loses  itself  in  the  sky  at  the  horizon. 

There  is  no  flower-garden  now  at  the  Villa  d'Este, 
and  such  is  the  overgrowth  of  hedge  plants  and 
shrubs  on  the  lower  terrace  that  one  would  hardly 

74 


suspect  that  here  was  once  an  elaborate  "  parterre." 
At  present  one  finds  no  flowers  at  all,  except  those 
which  have  grown  wild,  and  these  are  frequently  to  be 
found  where  there  should  be  none.  In  an  arrange- 
ment so  varied  as  that  at  D'Este  any  opportunity  for 
simplicity  was  valuable,  and  one  was  found  in  the 
ponds  or  canals  at  the  foot  of  the  first  line  of  terraces. 
The  form  here  is  perfectly  simple,  in  long  straight 
lines  surrounded  by  high  hedges,  now  overgrown  al- 
most into  small  forests.  These  ponds  are  now  com- 
paratively stagnant;  but  they  were  originally  filled  by 
many  jets  of  water  flowing  from  the  vases  which 
marked  their  borders.  At  present,  of  course,  only  the 
general  form  is  left,  and  though  that  is  still  fine,  the 
great  overgrowth  of  the  surrounding  hedges  naturally 
dwarfs  their  effect,  and  the  stairs  above  them  are 
quite  concealed.  The  old  stairway  of  the  Condonata, 
which  was  bordered  by  fountains  from  top  to  bottom, 
is  now  too  overgrown  to  be  seen,  and  this  is  the  case 
with  many  beautiful  parts  of  the  villa.  While  this 
wildness  has  given  a  certain  charm  of  its  own  to  the 
place,  it  makes  it  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  trace 
much  of  the  original  design  of  the  architect. 

Many  of  the  architectural  features  have  been  re- 
stored at  unfortunate  periods  or  by  unskilful  hands, 

76 


IN   THE  GARDENS,  VILLA   D  ESTE 


and  are  now  far  from  being  in  harmony  with  the  sim- 
plicity of  the  earliest  work  of  the  villa.  It  is  where 
the  overgrowth  has  concealed  this  sort  of  thing  that 
time  has  done  so  much  in  making  the  present  charm 
of  the  villa. 


VILLAALDOBRANDINI: 


about  the  same  distance  from  Rome  as 
Tivoli,  and  with  very  much  the  same  sit- 
uation and  character  of  country  (except 
that  it  is  less  abrupt),  is  Frascati,  which  contains 
a  very  remarkable  collection  of  villas.  Though  none 
of  them  were  so  elaborately  conceived  or  so  per- 
fectly carried  out  as  the  Villa  d'Este,  and  though 
in  their  present  condition  there  is  no  individual  villa 
of  any  striking  importance,  yet,  taking  the  place 
as  a  whole,  there  is  none  where  one  finds  so  many 
villas  so  closely  interwoven  with  one  another,  and 
where  the  Italian  villa  can  be  studied  to  greater 
advantage. 

The  villas  Aldobrandini  and  Conti  are  the  most  im- 
portant. 

The  former  has  to  some  extent  been  kept  up,  and 
is  now  in  a  comparative  state  of  completeness,  but,  un- 
fortunately, where  the  earlier  architectural  work  has 
given  out,  it  has  been  replaced  by  something  that 

83 


has  been  considered  florid  and  in  bad  taste,  the  result 
being  far  from  harmonious.  The  arrangement  of 
the  terraces  at  the  back  and  front  of  the  house  is 
very  remarkable,  and  admirably  adapted  to  the  forma- 
tion of  the  land.  There  are  some  interesting  fount- 
ains, and  the  arrangement  of  the  water-works  in  this 
villa  is  very  elaborately  carried  out.  The  villa  garden 
is  quite  shaded  by  enormous  sycamores,  and  thus  has 
of  course  lost  its  character  as  a  flower-garden,  though 
it  has  gained  a  certain  picturesqueness  and  charm. 

The  most  interesting  feature  of  this  villa  is  the 
manner  in  which  the  hill  at  the  back  of  the  house  has 
been  cut  out  and  formed  into  an  architectural  semi- 
circle with  fountains.  The  actual  architecture  of  the 
moment  is  very  bad,  the  niche's  and  grottos  being 
filled  with  colossal  and  grotesque  figures;  but  if  one 
can  imagine  something  simpler  in  its  place,  preserving 
the  same  general  outlines,  the  scheme  has  very  much 
to  commend  it.  It  is  particularly  fine  when  viewed 
from  the  doorway  of  the  house.  The  eye  is  led  to  fol- 
low the  line  of  the  fountains,  through  a  deep  cut  in  the 
trees  which  supplant  the  circular  terrace,  over  the  hill 
to  two  tall  columns  which  mark  the  position  of  the 
reservoir. 

The  straight  walk  leading  from  the  public  road  to 

84 


the  villa  is  charming  in  its  perspective,  but  the  ascent 
is  too  abrupt  ever  to  make  it  of  practical  use,  and  it  is 
good  now  only  as  an  addition  to  the  composition  of 
the  villa. 


NF  MI-/.H  COHORT,  t    ,,:,,K  U,r  — M,.    «,    v,u      -,     Wtl    ,      •.  « -M  M  , 


;VILLA  CONTI' 


[HE  great  feature  of  this  villa  is  the  elab- 
orate system  of  staircases  leading  from 
the  entrance  -  road  to  the  grove.  These 
stairways  line  the  terrace  literally  from  one  end  to 
the  other,  each  one  approaching  at  a  slightly  dif- 
ferent angle.  The  intervening  spaces  are  packed 
with  shrubs  and  flowers.  The  reason  for  making  the 

p 

approach  to  the  "  bosquet "  so  important  is  not  quite 
explained.  Though  the  effect  is  extremely  fine  of 
these  broad  stairways,  their  perfection  of  detail  is  not 
quite  in  harmony  with  the  house  itself,  which  is  ex- 
tremely simple,  with  no  architectural  pretensions  what- 
ever; and  judging  from  the  elaborate  details  of  the 
rest  of  the  villa,  it  has  either  replaced  something  more 
important  that  was  destroyed,  or  it  was  put  there  as 
something  temporary,  and  never  replaced. 

At  the  back  of  the  grove  which  stretches  at  the 
back  of  the  house  is  a  formal  and  elaborate  terrace 
with  fountains,  fed  from  the  top  by  a  series  of  formal 

91 


waterfalls.  This  arrangement,  though  too  artificial  in 
itself,  is  extremely  interesting  and  effective  when  seen 
with  the  morning  light  coming  through  the  trees, 
touching  the  sparkling  water  as  it  comes  over  the 
falls.  There  is  a  pathway  at  either  side  of  this  singu- 
lar series  of  waterfalls,  and  the  reservoir  is  reached  by 
ascending  it.  This  reservoir  is  circular  in  form,  sur- 
rounded by  a  beautiful  balustrade,  and  seems  to  be  in 
the  midst  of  a  wood,  so  dense  is  the  plantation  all 
about.  One  of  the  chief  peculiarities  of  the  villas  at 
Frascati  is  the  importance  given  to  such  reservoirs. 
Frequently  the  water  has  to  be  brought  from  a  long 
distance,  and  before  it  is  distributed  through  the 
fountains  and  watercourses  it  is  concentrated  in  a 
large  reservoir  at  the  highest  point  of  the  villa,  and  of 
this  a  feature  of  unusual  interest  is  made. 


VI    .A  FALCON  I  ;R| 


|HE  most  elaborate  and  interesting  one  is 
at  the  Villa  Falconieri,  where  the  basin  is 
formed  on  the  side  of  a  hill,  one  half  being 
cut  in,  and  the  other  side  being  supported  by  mason- 
work  in  the  form  of  an  architectural  wall,  the  pilas- 
ters capped  by  large  balls.  There  is  a  wide  walk 
surrounding  the  reservoir,  and  the  whole  is  enclosed 
by  a  line  of  cypresses,  now  grown  very  large,  their 
great  depth  of  color  contrasting  beautifully  with  the 
white  walls  and  the  mason-work.  Another  interest- 
ing feature  of  the  Villa  Falconieri  is  the  elaborate 
system  of  walls  which  surrounds  it.  These  are  now 
very  much  in  ruin,  and  in  many  cases  quite  con- 
cealed by  the  large  growth  of  trees  and  shrubs. 
What  remains  of  permanent  interest  are  the  sculp- 
tured gates  of  great  variety  of  forms.  Tall  columns 
of  different-colored  marbles  are  surmounted  either 
by  the  family  escutcheons  or  by  lions  or  some  other 
emblems. 

97 


The  chief  entrance  to  the  villa  is  under  a  great 
arch,  and  through  a  straight  avenue  of  ilex-trees, 
direct  to  the  arched  portico  of  the  house.  The  rest 
of  the  villa  is,  unfortunately,  quite  in  ruins,  which  is 
the  more  to  be  regretted,  as  the  fine  site  evidently 
once  contained  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  the  gar- 
dens of  Frascati.  The  view  of  the  campagna  from 
the  house  is  one  of  the  most  perfect.  Surrounded  as 
the  villa  is  by  walls,  almost  fortified,  one  might  say, 
it  is  quite  concealed  from  the  outside,  except  from 
a  great  distance.  This  makes  the  surprise  much 
greater,  on  entering,  to  find  such  a  magnificent  view 
of  the  surrounding  country. 


ASCENT   TO   THE    RESERVOIR,   VILLA    FALCONIERI 


VILLA  MUTI' 


[HE  Villa  Muti  had  once  the  most  varied 
system  of  flower-gardens  of  any  villa  in 
Italy.  The  house  is  literally  surrounded 
by  them,  all  at  different  levels,  and  one  might  walk 
out  of  any  story  of  the  house  and  find  one's  self 
in  a  charming  garden.  The  villa  has  now  gone  to 
almost  absolute  decay,  and  only  the  vaguest  out- 
lines of  the  arrangements  of  these  gardens  can  be 
discovered.  There  is  therefore  very  little  there  which 
could  be  so  reproduced  as  to  convey  any  idea  of  what 
they  had  been.  The  "  bosquet "  is  on  a  terrace  rest- 
ing above  the  upper  garden,  and  is  reached  by  a  fine 
stairway,  which  begins  in  full  sunlight  and  ends  in  the 
heart  of  the  grove  in  the  densest  shade.  The  reser- 
voir is  above  this,  and  has  seats  about  it.  A  great 
deal  of  terracing  was  necessary  for  gardens.  The  old 
gates  and  stairways  which  connected  the  terraces  and 
the  retaining  wall  which  supported  them  are  still  in 

their  places,  and  it  is  by  this  means  that  one  recon- 

103 


structs  the  villa,  and  forms  a  vision  of  the  beauty  of 
the  place. 

There  are  two  villas  in  Frascati  belonging  to  the 
Borghese  family,  one  of  which,  the  Villa  Taverna,  has 
been  kept  up  as  a  family  residence,  and  the  other, 
Mondragone,  is  now  occupied  by  a  Jesuit  school. 
The  palace  and  the  scale  of  the  gardens  of  the  latter 
are  of  great  size ;  but  with  the  exception  of  a  fine  ter- 
race in  front  of  the  house,  and  an  avenue  of  cypresses 
which  leads  up  to  it  from  the  public  road,  there  is 
nothing  left  but  architectural  details.  The  walls  and 
fountain  of  the  old  garden  still  exist,  and  also  a  pavil- 
ion and  colonnade  of  remarkable  dignity  at  one  end  of 
it ;  but  the  razed  parterre  is  now  used  as  a  playground 
for  boys. 

The  Villa  Taverna  has  a  very  charming  flower-gar- 
den, which  is  reached  from  one  wing  of  the  house. 
It  is  raised  above  the  road,  and  is,  in  fact,  so  enclosed 
and  supported  by  architecture  that  it  seems  to  be  lit- 
erally an  apartment  of  the  house.  The  central  fount- 
ain here  is  a  very  handsome  one,  surrounded  by 
laurels  cut  in  a  circular  form.  There  are  some  inter- 
esting fountains  let  into  the  wall,  and  the  balustrade 
which  connects  the  garden  and  the  house  is  a  very 

good  one.     Beyond  this  there  is  little  here  to  detain 

104 


A   FRASCATI   RESERVOIR 


one,  though  a  path  which  leads  tram  the  house  to  the 
grove  is  interesting  on  account  of  the  unusual  open 
character  given  it  by  the  use  of  deciduous  trees- 
something  quite  unusual  in  Italian  villas. 

There  are  other  interesting  corners  to  be  studied  in 
the  minor  villas  at  Frascati — a  small  flower-garden 
here  and  an  ilex  walk  there,  and  fountains  and  abrupt 
stairways  and  architectural  details;  but  the  great 
charm  of  the  villas  at  Frascati  in  their  now  dilapidated 
condition  is  in  their  beautiful  sites,  placed  as  they  are 
high  above  the  campagna. 

With  such  magnificent  views,  and  with  slopes  so 
delightfully  accidental,  it  seems  it  would  be  difficult 
for  an  artist-gardener  not  to  produce  beautiful  results, 
particularly  as  the  Italians  in  their  construction  of 
summer  villas  rarely  allowed  ideas  of  convenience  to 
interfere  with  their  desire  to  produce  a  beautiful  effect. 


OLD   GATE,    VILLA    MUTI 


VILLA- FALCONIERI 


[N  the  other  side  of  Rome,  in  the  opposite 
direction  from   Frascati,  there  were   some 
extremely  interesting  villas,  but  the   low- 
ness    of    the    land   and   the    unhealthy    character   of 
the  campagna  have   long  made  them   uninhabitable, 
and    in    most    cases    all    that    remain    of    them    are 
interesting   ruins    in    the    midst   of   fields    and    past- 
*ures.     Percier  and   Fontaine  have   made  restoration 
of  some  of  these,  and  it  was  in  the  author's  vain  en- 
deavors to  discover  the  site  of  the  Villa  Sachetti  that 
one  much  less  important  in  itself  was  discovered,  but 
so  compact,  admirable,  and  simple   in  its  adjustment 
to  a  small  area  of  land  that  it  was  thought  worthy  of 
a  particularly  careful  study.     This  is  another   Villa 
Falconieri,  though  in  no  way  connected  with  the  one 
at  Frascati.     It  is  not  distinguished  by  an  elaborate- 
ness of  architecture  or  by  the  extent  of  its  gardening, 
but  is  rather  something  of  a  compromise  between  the 
villa  of  a  nobleman  and  the  residence  of  a  wealthy 


farmer.  Its  peculiarities  are  due  to  the  fact  that  the 
gardens  and  plantations  in  relation  to  the  house  do 
not  cover  a  width  of  more  than  four  hundred  feet, 
being  in  the  centre  of  a  large  farm,  and  allowing  the 
land  for  farm  cultivation  to  come  almost  within  a 
stone's-throw  of  the  house  itself  without  being  visible, 
or  to  any  extent  interfering  with  the  effect  of  the  gar- 
dens. The  whole  plan  is  in  a  direct  straight  line,  so 
that  upon  entering  the  gate  at  the  road  one  can  look 
along  the  path  and  under  the  arched  doorway  of  the 
house  directly  to  the  architectural  feature  which  termi- 
nates the  villa  grounds.  The  flower-garden  is  on  the 
side  of  the  house  away  from  the  road,  and  at  either 
side  of  a  path  which  leads  from  the  house  to  a  circu- 
lar terrace ;  this  terrace  contains  fountains,  and  over- 
looks the  valley  which  intervenes  between  it  and 
smaller  terraces  on  the  other  side.  At  the  lowest 
point  in  this  small  valley  is  a  fountain,  and  steps  rise 
from  this  point  in  both  directions,  these  steps  being 
flanked  by  high  hedges.  At  right  angles  with  the 
first  circular  terrace  are  two  ilex  walks  which  form  a 
screen  for  the  uninteresting  fields  and  tilled  land  which 
otherwise  would  be  visible  from  the  house,  and  this 
is  also  repeated  on  the  street  side,  save  that  here  the 
ilex-trees  are  planted  radiating  from  the  front  door 

112 


VIEW    OF   THE    VII.I.A    AND    GARDEN,   VILLA    FAl.CONIERI 


and  leading  to  other  lines  of  trees  which  mark  the 
boundary.  The  whole  plan  of  the  villa  is  well  held 
together  by  a  system  of  stone-pines,  which  are  planted 
at  intervals,  ending  in  a  group  of  circular  form  at  the 
extreme  end.  The  builders  of  this  villa  were  evi- 
dently fortunate  in  their  excavations,  for  they  have  an 
extremely  interesting  collection  of  old  Roman  statuary 
and  carved  stone,  which  they  have  made  the  basis  of 
the  very  simple  architectural  features  of  their  plan. 
The  house  itself  is  very  simple  in  character,  with  two 
pigeon-towers  on  either  side,  and  one  feels  about  this 
place  as  if  it  were  intended  to  be  lived  in  all  the  year 
round  by  its  owner,  and  not  simply  a  place  to  fly  to 
occasionally  from  the  busier  life  of  the  town. 

Still  farther  on  in  the  same  direction  are  the  ruins 
of  the  Villa  Madama,  but  so  complete  here  is  the  gen- 
eral wreck  that  nothing  is  to  be  found  which  in  its 
actual  state  could  more  than  suggest  its  former  gran- 
deur. The  house  itself  was  one  of  unusual  architect- 
ural beauty,  and  there  is  perhaps  enough  left  now  in 
the  gardens  and  terraces  to  show  how  admirably  and 
harmoniously  the  villa  was  planned.  But  further 
study  here  would  be  altogether  a  matter  of  research, 
and  therefore  beyond  the  province  of  this  book. 


VI!   j\POR  1C! 


OF  THE 

UWV-13ITY 


THE   BOSQUET,    VILLA    PORTICI 


|N  southern  Italy  very  little  is  to  be  found 
of  interest  to  the  student  of  the  Renais- 
sance garden.  There  are,  indeed,  bits  here 
and  there  of  interest  in  themselves,  but  nothing  suf- 
ficiently complete  to  bear  the  character  of  a  design. 
This  is  the  case  in  the  royal  villa  at  Portici,  now 
turned  into  an  agricultural  school.  The  architect- 
ural details  bear  the  mark  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
though  it  is  very  probable  that  the  plan,  which  is 
excellent,  would  date  from  a  much  earlier  time.  The 
flower-garden  behind  the  palace  is  now  filled  with 
botanical  specimens,  arranged  without  regard  to  the 
design  of  the  parterre,  but  the  wall  is  extremely  in- 
teresting on  account  of  its  simplicity  and  the  form 
it  gives  to  the  general  outlines  of  the  garden.  The 
gate  through  which  one  passes  from  here  to  the 
grove  is  very  picturesque,  the  dignified  columns  and 
delicate  iron-work  contrasting  with  the  deep  green  of 
the  ilexes.  Looking  from  the  garden  through  this 

119 


gate,  the  grove  itself  presents  an  effect  of  the  densest 
shade  imaginable,  partly  owing  to  the  fact  that  from 
neglect  the  paths  in  the  wood  have  been  allowed  to 
cover  themselves  with  moss,  so  that  everything  there 
is  green.  When  one  has  passed  through  the  gate  and 
is  in  the  grove,  the  great  variety  of  green  is  exceed- 
ingly delightful ;  the  only  relief  from  it  which  one 
needs  is  found  in  the  high  gray  wall  forming  a  part  of 
the  tennis-court,  which  is  reached  by  an  arched  door- 
way in  the  centre  of  the  wall.  Here  is  nothing  but 
ruin ;  but  by  a  little  study  the  outlines  of  a  capital  ar- 
rangement for  such  a  place  may  be  traced.  The  north 
side  of  the  court  is  made  up  of  a  series  of  stone  steps 
somewhat  similar  to  those  in  the  Piazzi  di  Siena  in 
the  Villa  Borghese,  made  for  the  accommodation  of 
spectators  of  minor  importance  who  viewed  the  games. 
At  either  end  of  the  court  are  pavilions  to  accommo- 
date the  royal  guests  and  others  of  importance.  One 
of  them  is  higher  than  the  other,  and  is  reached  by  a 
flight  of  steps.  At  present  these  buildings  are  with- 
out roofs,  and  in  a  great  state  of  dilapidation,  their 
only  occupants  being  the  birds  of  the  neighborhood. 

120 


CAPRAROLA 


[HE  ruins  of  the  gardens  of  Caprarola  are 
in  the  same  part  of  the  country  as  the 
Villa  Lante,  not  far  from  Viterbo.  They 
contain  less  now  for  the  student  of  gardening  than 
for  the  architect,  though  the  general  plan  is  still 
visible.  The  relation  of  one  thing  to  another  is 
so  good  that  the  enthusiast  will  find  a  careful  study 
of  the  complete  design  very  instructive.  The  ca- 
sino overlooks  the  flower-garden,  its  first  floor  being 
on  the  same  level  as  the  parterre,  the  second  story 
on  a  level  with  the  upper  terrace,  which  was  once 
enlivened  with  fountains,  and  from  which  there  is  a 
magnificent  view  of  the  surrounding  country.  In 
its  present  state  of  ruin,  while  there  is  much  that  one 
may  see  with  interest,  there  is  very  little  in  a  state  to 
be  reproduced,  the  most  striking  feature  being  lines 
of  hermae,  nymphs,  and  satyrs  which  form  part  of  the 
wall  surrounding  the  flower-garden.  Although  these 
grotesque  figures  are  characteristic  of  a  certain  ten- 

125 


dency  of  Italian  garden  architecture,  to  look  well  they 
should  be  very  much  enveloped  in  foliage,  and  this,  it 
is  to  be  hoped,  is  the  treatment  they  received  when 
these  gardens  were  kept  up.  At  present  they  are  sin- 
gularly out  of  harmony  with  the  architectural  details 
of  the  casino,  and  one  has  to  see  them  as  a  part  of  the 
whole  scheme,  and  particularly  from  above,  to  be  able 
to  judge  of  their  effect  in  a  complete  garden. 


GARDEN    WALL,   VILLA    CAPRAROLA 


\  9  H  ^  r 
0PTH£ 

SlTV 


,'•*=?: 


BOBOLI  GARDENS 


best  gardens  existing  to-day  in  Florence 
and  its  neighborhood  are  due  to  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Medici  family,  Among  these, 
the  Boboli,  constructed  in  relation  to  the  Pitti  Palace, 
are  the  largest  and  most  important,  although  they 
cannot  be  said  to  be  the  most  beautiful.  To  one 
thoroughly  imbued  with  the  charm  of  the  compact 
'treatment  of  the  best  villas  about  Rome,  the  large 
scale  and  the  endless  paths  and  avenues  of  Boboli 
are  at  first  a  shock,  recalling  the  enormous  stretches 
of  great  parks  in  France,  although  they  do  not  in 
reality  cover  a  very  large  area.  Here  interminable 
avenues  in  relentless  straight  lines  climb  one  hill 
after  another,  and  the  visitor  wanders  about  the  place 
with  an  increasing  sense  of  fatigue.  If,  however, 
he  does  not  allow  this  fatigue  to  get  the  better  of 
him,  he  will  discover  much  that  is  charming  in  the 
details  of  the  arrangements,  and  much  that  will  re- 
move his  first  sense  of  disappointment.  The  amphi- 


theatre  at  the  back  of  the  palace  is  admirably  adapted 
to  the  form  of  the  hill -side,  and  the  circular  terraces 
which  surround  the  most  elevated  of  the  ponds  seem  a 
natural  formation,  so  exactly  do  they  fit  in  with  their 
surroundings.  The  Boboli  Gardens,  however,  are  so 
well  known,  and  have  been  so  thoroughly  photo- 
graphed, it  seems  unnecessary  to  treat  them  in  detail 
here,  particularly  as  there  are  other  villas  near  at  hand 
which  one  would  find  more  interesting  and  character- 
istic of  the  Italian  garden. 


,       R  A 

*•   OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 


CAS"       -O 


[HE  Villa  Castello  is  about  three  miles  from 
Florence,  and  built  in  a  gently  undulating 
country.  The  flower-garden  is  its  inter- 
esting feature,  and  it  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
in  Italy.  It  covers  a  large  area — several  acres — and 
is  placed  at  the  back  and  north  of  the  palace,  on 
rising  ground.  It  is  protected  at  the  north  by  an 
*  architectural  terrace,  above  which  is  a  grove  of  ilex 
and  cypress  trees.  A  large  fountain  marks  the  cen- 
tre of  the  parterre,  with  circular  seats  and  statuary 
surrounding  it.  In  the  centre  of  the  terrace,  at  the 
north,  is  a  grotto  and  fountain  very  remarkable  and 
dignified  in  character.  An  orangery  forms  a  part 
of  the  east  wall.  The  arrangement  of  the  flower- 
beds is  as  simple  as  possible,  and  the  effect  of  the 
whole  is  very  full  in  regard  to  the  plantation,  and 
very  remarkable  as  to  bloom,  for  so  large  a  garden. 
One  is  conscious  only  of  the  principal  paths,  so  well 
concealed  is  the  necessary  net-work  of  small  ones  by 

137 


which  the  gardener  reaches  his  plants.  The  arrange- 
ment of  vines  on  the  high  stucco  wall  is  an  exceed- 
ingly good  one — the  lower  part  of  it  covered  with 
climbing-roses,  which  are  fastened  to  it  with  slender 
bamboo  sticks  attached  to  the  wall,  and  the  upper  part 
for  grape-vines,  which,  having  grown  up  to  a  point 
above  the  roses,  are  made  to  grow  laterally  in  lines 
one  above  the  other,  forming  a  sort  of  frieze.  The 
grove  of  Castello  is  reached  by  two  stairways,  one  at 
either  end  of  the  terrace.  It  is  quite  unpretentious  in 
character,  its  one  embellishment  being  a  fountain,  now 
very  much  overgrown  with  moss. 

Quite  near  Castello  is  the  Villa  Petrasa,  another 
seat  of  the  Medici.  Here  the  flower-garden  is  in 
front  of  the  house,  being  semicircular,  with  a  high 
hedge  at  the  north,  and  a  terrace  forming  its  southern 
limit.  The  abrupt  nature  of  the  hill-side  is,  however, 
ill  adapted  to  form  a  flower-garden,  and  it  has  long 
since  been  filled  with  trees  and  shrubs,  so  that  at 
present  it  is  more  interesting  from  the  point  of  view 
of  horticulture  than  that  of  design. 

There  are  many  interesting  small  gardens  surround- 
ing Florence,  most  of  them  being  occupied  by  their 
owners,  and  are  somewhat  difficult  of  access  to  a 
stranger.  If,  however,  he  is  fortunate  enough  to  gain 

138 


IN 


THE    FLOWER-GARDEN,   VILLA    CASTELLO 


admittance,  he  will  find  something  of  interest  in  al- 
most every  one.  This  is  the  case  also  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Siena ;  and  while  no  one  of  these  gardens 
is  of  great  importance,  they  have  a  character  as  a 
whole  which  one  should  study  to  get  a  complete  idea 
of  Italian  gardening.  The  gardens  of  Genoa  are  par- 
ticularly worthy  of  study  from  this  point  of  view. 
The  character  of  the  landscape  here  is  extremely 
abrupt,  and  great  ingenuity  has  been  shown  by  the 
architects  in  planning  villas  in  harmony  with  their 
surroundings.  In  the  city  itself  each  of  the  palaces 
has  its  own  small  garden,  sometimes  on  the  terrace 
reached  from  the  wing,  but  more  frequently  above  the 
main  part  of  the  palace,  and  reached  by  intricate  and 
varied  stairways.  Formerly  the  gardens  of  the  more 
important  of  these  palaces  stretched  to  the  shore  of 
the  harbor;  but  with  Genoa's  prosperity  these  have 
now  almost  completely  disappeared,  to  make  place  for 
new  quays  and  streets  and  other  improvements  of  a 
modern  city.  Of  the  two  or  three  remaining  ones  the 
Rosazza  has  the  most  marked  characteristics  of  a 
Genoa  garden.  Made  on  the  extremely  abrupt  slope 
at  the  north  side  of  the  harbor,  the  paths  and  terraces 
and  fountains  rise  one  above  another,  and  are  very 

skilfully  planned,  and  so  interwoven  with  the  sharp 

140 


angle  of  the  hill-side  that  one  is  surprised  to  feel  it  the 
most  natural  place  in  the  world  for  gardening.  The 
architecture  in  the  terraces  and  fountains  is  of  a  late 
and  florid  period,  but  so  great  is  the  mass  of  flowers 
that  it  is  sufficiently  concealed  to  become  interesting. 


TERRACE   WALL,  VILLA   CASTELLO 


GUISTI  GARDENS  If 


|HE  impression  left  by  this  garden  is  one 
of  great  tangle,  and  of  a  profusion  of  grow- 
ing  things  mixed  with  the  most  charming 
garden  statuary.  On  entering  through  the  palace, 
one  finds  one's  self  in  a  broad  avenue  of  cypresses; 
to  the  left  is  the  flower -garden,  and  to  the  right  a 
grove,  arranged  in  open  spaces  among  the  trees,  with 
fountains  as  centres.  At  the  end  of  the  cypress  walk 
is  a  high  and  very  precipitous  hill -side,  which  forms 
the  background  of  the  garden,  and  is  densely  cov- 
ered with  evergreen  trees  and  shrubs.  On  this  hill- 
side one  catches  glimpses  here  and  there  of  architect- 
ural construction,  and  at  the  top  is  a  small  temple, 
with  a  terrace  which  overlooks  the  garden  and  house, 
and  beyond  that  the  City  of  Verona.  The  garden 
has  been  allowed  to  go  very  much  to  ruin  in  its  de- 
tails. Fewof  the  old  fountains  are  running,  many 
of  them  being  filled  up  with  earth  and  planted  with 
flowers,  sometimes  with  a  statue  marking  its  centre. 

147 


It  was  very  difficult  in  this  garden  to  get  a  view  which 
seemed  to  give  a  true  impression  of  the  place,  or 
which  in  any  way  revealed  the  design.  In  looking 
down  from  above  there  were  too  many  trees  in  the 
way  to  make  this  possible,  and  from  below  there  was 
no  point  at  a  sufficient  distance  to  see  the  parterre  as 
a  whole.  The  statuary  of  this  garden  is  particularly 
charming,  being  mostly  of  nymphs  in  flowing  gar- 
ments, giving  a  festive  character  very  much  in  har- 
mony with  the  gayety  which  one  looks  for  in  such  a 
place.  In  one's  mind  they  make  an  agreeable  con- 
trast with  the  Roman  senators  and  headless  deities 
which  do  duty  in  most  of  the  old  Roman  gardens. 


THE   GUISTI   GARDEN 


CONCLUSION 


|N  closing  these  brief  notes  descriptive  of  the 
gardens  of  Italy,  the  writer  would  like  to 
add,  with  a  view  of  tempering  criticism, 
that  they  should  be  taken  purely  as  supplementary 
to  the  illustrations.  It  has  not  been  the  purpose  to 
make  a  treatise  on  landscape-gardening,  but  a  simple 
attempt  to  show  some  of  the  most  salient  of  the 
existing  features  of  the  formal  garden  as  they  may 
be  seen  to-day  in  Italy.  Doubtless  some  of  the  villas 
are  worthy  of  greater  study  than  has  been  given 
them,  and  some  which  have  been  left  out  altogether 
might  have  claim  to  a  place  here ;  but  it  is  thought 
that  those  considered  are  sufficient  to  give  a  compre- 
hensive idea  of  the  methods  of  the  Italian  in  the 
treatment  of  the  garden.  With  the  general  interest 
that  undoubtedly  exists  in  the  subject  of  gardening 
to-day,  it  is  hoped  that  this  work  may  be  of  value 
towards  a  more  thorough  understanding  and  appre- 
ciation of  the  reasons  which  led  to  a  formal  treat- 

153 


ment  of  the  garden ;  and  as  there  is  a  great  similarity 
in  the  character  of  the  landscape  in  many  parts  of  our 
country  with  that  of  Italy,  that  it  might  lead  to  a  re- 
vival of  the  same  method. 


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